[ { "id": 204239, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1961", "page_number": 7, "title": "RAS-1961", "content_text": "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch\n\nRASHKB and author\n\nVol 1 (1961)\n\nISSN 1991-7295\n\nTHE HONG KONG BRANCH was resuscitated as the outcome of a meeting attended by some thirty interested persons, held at the British Council Centre on December 28, 1959. The meeting adopted a constitution approved by the parent Society in London, and formed an interim Council to hold office until a General Meeting should be held. The following were elected to the Council:- President: Dr. J. R. Jones; Vice-Presidents: the Hon. Sir Tsun-nin Chau and Dr. L. T. Ride; Hon. Secretary: Mr. J. D. Duncanson; Hon. Treasurer: Mr. T. J. Lindsay; Hon. Editor of the Journal: Mr. J. L. Cranmer-Byng; other Councillors: Dr. Marjorie Topley and Messrs. James Liu, Holmes Welch, and G. B. Endacott.\n\nThe Inaugural Meeting of the revived Branch was held on April 7, 1960, in the Loke Yew Hall of Hong Kong University. It was to have been presided over by H.E. the Governor, Sir Robert Black, K.C.M.G., O.B.E., had illness not prevented it. The Inaugural Address was delivered by Professor F. S. Drake, Professor of Chinese at Hong Kong University, on \"The Study of Asia: a Heritage and a Task”.\n\nOn January 23, 1961, Sir Robert Black presided over a meeting of the Branch in his capacity as Patron, and thus restored a tradition after a lapse of a hundred years.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1961.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204241, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1961", "page_number": 9, "title": "RAS-1961", "content_text": "Vol. 1 (1961)\n\nISSN 1991-7295\n\nJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch\n\nORASHKB and author\n\n6\n\nyear we had 182 of whom 20 were life members and who included several eminent scholars from overseas. But as Sir Robert Black said in his address last month, \"there must be many times 200 people in Hong Kong who are interested both in the cultural life and history of this part of the world which has great riches to offer to anybody interested in research or in studying and enquiring about the inheritance which we all enjoy who live here.\" While we can feel pride in having in our present membership a substantial nucleus not only of scholars but of members generally representative of the cosmopolitan community of the Colony who are keen and enthusiastic, we need more members and hope to appeal to a wider public. As this is a Royal Society, membership is not a matter of form only, and we do not go out into the highways and byways to recruit members, but we feel that the Society can enlarge its activities and membership if the present members will help by bringing within the fold those of their friends and acquaintances who are interested in its activities. There seems to be no reason why in time the membership should not equal that of the Shanghai Branch, which before the war was about 800.\n\nDuring the year the Society has held eight meetings at which addresses have been given, all of them by persons of outstanding eminence in their respective spheres. Most of them were very well attended. Good lecturers are a gift from heaven but so far we have been truly blessed.\n\nWe were particularly fortunate in starting the year with two outstanding meetings. For an opening meeting we had an intensely interesting talk by Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark on \"The Social and Economic Organisation of Tibet\", illustrated by a coloured film taken over a period of seven years during his exploration of Central Asia. The formal inaugural address was given by Professor F. S. Drake of the University of Hong Kong on \"The Study of Asia: a Heritage and a Task.\" It was a memorable address which gave the stamp of learning and authority on the Society's efforts and the text of which is printed in this volume.\n\nOf no less interest and merit were the addresses following:\n\nby the\n\nProfessor John K. Fairbank on \"Chinese Studies in the United States\",\n\nMr. A. C. Scott on \"The Chinese Theatre\" illustrated by Chinese actors in costumes and makeup,\n\nMr. G. B. Downer of the University of London on \"The Yao People of Laos.\"\n\nIn the summer months we followed the advice of the first President of the original Hong Kong Branch, Sir John Davis,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1961.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204243, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1961", "page_number": 11, "title": "RAS-1961", "content_text": "Vol. 1 (1961)\n\nISSN 1991-7295\n\nJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch\n\nRASHKB and author\n\n8\n\nand contributions from the community, it built a commodious home for itself with a spacious lecture room and provided accommodation for its very valuable library and museum. In Hong Kong we hope that some facilities may be afforded in the new City Hall for societies like ours but if our plans are to mature we need a meeting place of our own where we can build up an Oriental library which should fill a special need which cannot be supplied by the University, whose library is not readily accessible to the public, or by the new City Hall, whose library will probably be of a wider popular interest.\n\nAs the basis of our projected library we propose to print a sufficient number of our periodical journals to enable us to exchange periodicals with kindred societies in other parts of the world. We also propose in our journal to review books on Oriental affairs which may bring us a useful nucleus of publications. Until we have enough money to buy books it would be greatly appreciated if members who have any books of interest and connected with the objects of the Society would kindly remember that any gifts of books and journals would be most welcome.\n\nThe Branch is greatly indebted to benefactors who have been generous with donations. In Sir Richard Winstedt's message on its formation he expressed the hope that both European and Chinese firms with their accustomed generosity would help to foster the growth of a Branch of high promise. This hope was realised in the donations received of 500 dollars each from Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., and The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, and 250 dollars from Mr. Ellis Hayim. Then in April last year there came a munificent gift from an anonymous donor who is not now resident in the Colony. This was the gift of 10,000 dollars in memory of Arthur de Carl Sowerby, a great authority on the natural history of China, who was the founder and curator of the museum of the Society in Shanghai. These contributions have enabled us to put aside a capital fund which will help us in our aims for the future while yielding a useful interest in the meantime. It is greatly hoped that other merchant houses and individuals in the Colony may, without any direct appeal, emulate the example of these benefactors and help us to build up a Branch of the Society in Hong Kong worthy of the heritage which Professor Drake in his inaugural address coupled with the corresponding task which such heritage implied.\n\nDuring the year there was little change amongst the officers and members of the Council. Mr. Endacott resigned owing to pressure of work and the vacancy was filled in accordance with the rules by the co-option of The Hon. A. G. Clarke. Mr.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1961.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204246, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1961", "page_number": 14, "title": "RAS-1961", "content_text": "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch\n\nRASHKB and author\n\nVol. 1 (1961)\n\nISSN 1991-7295\n\n11\n\nTHE STUDY OF ASIA: A HERITAGE AND A TASK\n\nInaugural Address delivered on April 7, 1960.\n\nF. S. DRAKE, O.B.E., B.A., B.D.,\n\nProfessor of Chinese, Hong Kong University.\n\nThe study of Asia by the West is the result of the total impact of East and West through the ages, in which traders, soldiers, administrators, travellers, preachers, and scholars all have a part, and in which a study of the language and literature of the peoples of Asia is an essential element.\n\nSo far as Europe is concerned the study of Asia commences with the Greeks.\n\nThe Greeks were in contact with Asia in three directions: along the coast of the Black Sea they were in contact with the Scythians; in Asia Minor they lived under the shadow of the Persian Empire; through Egypt they were in contact with the sea routes to India and beyond.\n\nThese three directions indicate three great geographical divisions of the subject around which we can, I think, arrange the historical, cultural and linguistic studies.\n\nFirst the grasslands of Central Asia, from the steppes of Russia to the plateau of Mongolia, home of the nomadic races from the Scythians to the Mongols;\n\nsecond, the Oriental Empires connected with the great river valleys and deltas from Iran to India and China;\n\nthird, the islands and peninsulas from South-east Asia to Korea and Japan, including the China coast.\n\nI. The Scythians are graphically described in the pages of Herodotus, and his description is verified by the finds of archaeologists in the tombs of their chieftains in South Russia and the Caucasus region. The virile 'nomad animal style' of the ornaments in bronze and gold found from the Caucasus to the Siberian side of the Altai, and from the Altai through Mongolia to the borders of China, indicates the extent and the character of the nomadic tribes.\n\nBut the chief source of our knowledge of the nomads is to be found in the series of Chinese dynastic histories. The Chinese were in continual contact with the nomadic peoples along their northern frontier from Manchuria to Turkestan—the line of the Great Wall. The struggle between the nomads and the Empire, based on agriculture, is the great theme of Chinese history.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1961.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204375, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 7, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "2\n\nflourished between 1858 and 1948 was more fortunate because it was able to draw on the services of a far wider group of people who came to work in China in the years after travel and residence there was no longer restricted. The present Society is luckier still because, thanks to air travel, we have been able to draw on an extremely wide range of contributors in the first two volumes of the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.\n\nWhen examining the table of contents of the six volumes of Transactions published in Hong Kong between 1847 and 1859, one sees the titles of several articles which it would be most interesting to read if copies of these volumes were available in Hong Kong. For example, in Volume III Harry Parkes, at that time British Consul in Canton, and later British Minister at Peking, described proceedings in a criminal Court at Canton, while Dr. Bowring contributed an article “On the Character and Writings of Commissioner Lin Tsih-seu”, which at that time (1851) was still very recent history. In Volume VI (1859) Dr. D. J. Macgowan wrote on Chinese opium while the Rev. Krone contributed “A notice of the Sanon district *”. This is of particular interest since the Sanon district included all of what later became the New Territories. The full list of contents of each of these volumes can be found in Bibliotheca Sinica by Henri Cordier, Volume IV, columns 2401-2.\n\n44\n\nBy way of contrast it is interesting to consider the contents of the first two volumes of the Journal of the revived Hong Kong Branch of the R.A.S. published in 1961 and 1962. Perhaps the first point which strikes one is the wider range of subject matter covered by these two volumes. In Volume I, Mr. Hugh Richardson, the last head of the British mission at Lhasa wrote on Tibet as it was, and Professor Drake reviewed the whole field of Western contacts with Asia. In Volume II Mr. Evan Luard's newly published book Britain and China, which covers the story of recent Sino-British relations, is the subject of a review-article by Mrs. Colina Lupton. Another noteworthy point is the number of admirable contributions from Chinese scholars in these two volumes. The six volumes of Transactions published between\n\n* Although I have made extensive enquiries I have been unable to locate copies of the Transactions in Hong Kong. The City Hall Library ought to have a set. (Ed.)", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204376, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 8, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "3\n\n1847 and 1859 contained nothing by Chinese scholars since even by 1859 there were no Chinese able to write in English. In contrast Volumes I and II of the present Journal contain articles by Mr. James J. Y. Liu, Mr. Liu Tsun-yan, Miss B. T. Chiu, and Dr. T. Y. Li. The first volume was most ably edited by Mr. James Liu who is now a lecturer at the University of Hawaii. Another Chinese scholar, Mr. Ma Meng, is a member of the publications committee responsible for the present volume of the Journal. While in the past missionaries were responsible for a large number of articles in the former Transactions, the two volumes of the Journal so far published contain no contributions from missionaries, though it should be noted that Professor F. S. Drake spent thirty-eight years in China as a missionary, and for more than twenty of these years he was on the staff of Cheeloo University where he taught (in Chinese) first as Associate Professor of Education and later of Church history. Finally, whereas the earlier volumes contained very little on Hong Kong itself, in the current volumes published by the Society several articles have dealt with various aspects of the Colony. So far the subject matter of these articles has included archaeology, natural history (birds and flowers) and local history. This comparison may serve to emphasize the great contrast between Hong Kong then and now, and the great changes and developments which have taken place within the last hundred years. The Editorial Committee hopes to develop the study of Hong Kong in future numbers of the Journal.\n\nIt would be invidious to claim that the contributions printed in the Journal of the present Society are more learned or more weighty than those printed in the earlier period. But if one is full of admiration for the pioneering work of these early scholars, one may also feel a sense of pride in the vigorous scholarship and spirit of enquiry fostered by the Royal Asiatic Society in Hong Kong and exemplified in the first two volumes of the Society's Journal. We are particularly glad to welcome to the present volume a contribution written by a District Officer of the Colony about the New Territories. This is an encouraging sign and we hope to be able to print in future further articles and short notes about the life and customs of the people of Hong Kong.\n\nMr. Ma is Principal of the Language School in the Institute of Oriental Studies at the University of Hong Kong.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204379, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 11, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "Nevertheless the monthly meetings of the Society have been consistently well attended with audiences which often have more than filled this room and have averaged well over one hundred at each meeting. This regularity of attendance proves that there is in the Colony a reliable cross section of the community who appreciate what Professor Drake referred to in his inaugural lecture as the Study of Asia and our heritage.\n\nIn the earlier days of the Society up to 1859 when the Government of the Colony provided a home for the Society and its library it was honoured with the presence on its Council of the Governor, the Commander of the British Forces, the Chief Justice, the Bishop of Victoria, the Colonial Secretary, the Colonial Treasurer and the Attorney General, and it had the active support of the heads of the great merchant houses like Jardine, Matheson and Co. and Dent and Co. Although in these busier days we miss the successors of some of these eminent personages we are still honoured today by the patronage of His Excellency the Governor and the support of leading members of a more cosmopolitan community than in the earlier days. We particularly appreciate the keenness of the Hon. W. C. G. Knowles, who has recently joined the Council, and of the Honourable the Chief Justice whose athletic figure some of us recall striding along the slithery slopes of Lantao on the occasion of our archaeological excursion last year. We hope that this year we may provide a further opportunity for members who do not perhaps know one another as well as it might be desired, to join in a combined social and study expedition either to Lantao or elsewhere in the New Territories.\n\nDuring the year 1961 nine public meetings were held at which unusually interesting lectures were given, most of them illustrated with colour slides-\n\nJanuary 23rd\n\nJames Liu\n\n\"The Knight Errant in Chinese Literature\"\n\n\"Tibet As It Was (1936-1950)”\n\nFebruary 10th\n\nHugh Richardson\n\nApril 10th\n\nMay 13th\n\nMiss Mary Tregear\n\n\"Chinese Paintings in Formosa and America\"\n\nExpedition to Lantao to visit archaeological sites", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204380, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 12, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "June 12th\n\nDr. T. Y. Li\n\nJuly 10th\n\nMr. G. Findlay Andrew, O.B.E.\n\nSeptember 20th Professor B. P. Groslier\n\n\"Chinese Seals\"\n\n\"Currency Problems in a Cycle of Cathay\"\n\n\"Recent Work in Angkor\"\n\nOctober 30th\n\nMr. Holmes H. Welch\n\n\"The Buddhist Monk's Career\"\n\nDecember 11th Professor F. S. Drake\n\n\"Nestorian Crosses and Nestorianism in China under the Mongols\"\n\nSome of these lectures will be reproduced in the forthcoming Journal of the Society. We are particularly fortunate in being able to include the memorable address of Professor Drake on Nestorian Crosses, even though the printed article cannot reproduce the warmth and inspiration of his personal eloquence and exposition.\n\nThe first Journal of the Society produced last year by the Editorial Board and completed, in the absence of Mr. Cranmer-Byng, by Mr. James Liu, had a very good reception. The Editors are to be congratulated on a worthy production which has set a pattern and standard for the future and which I feel will be more than sustained in this year's issue which, it is hoped, will be ready for delivery in May or June next.\n\nThe report of the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. T. J. Lindsay, will, in his absence on leave, be presented to you by Mr. A. L. Harman of The Hong Kong Bank, who has been good enough to step into the breach. Some features of the Report deserve serious attention. In the first place, we had at the end of 1961 a narrow margin of $2,265.61 over and above our expenditure and $4,790.94 cash in the Bank. In addition, we had a capital investment of $16,247.25 at cost. This apparently favourable financial position is mainly due to donations of $500 each from three leading concerns in the Colony, Messrs. Butterfield and Swire, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., and The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, together with a magnificent gift of $10,000 from an anonymous donor given in 1960 in memory of Arthur de Carle Sowerby. These are non-recurrent benefactions, however, and I\n\n7", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204384, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 16, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "11\n\nNESTORIAN CROSSES AND NESTORIAN CHRISTIANS IN CHINA UNDER THE MONGOLS\n\nA lecture delivered on December 11, 1961\n\nF. S. DRAKE, O.B.E., B.A., B.D.*\n\nI. THE NIXON COLLECTION\n\nThe purpose of this paper is to introduce, to those who may be unfamiliar with it, the F. A. Nixon Collection of Nestorian Bronze Crosses from the Sino-Mongolian Borderland recently presented by the Hon. R. C. Lee and Mr. J. S. Lee to the Museum of the University of Hong Kong, in relation to the great movement which the Crosses represent.\n\nSoon after the attention of scholars was called by the Rev. P. M. Scott1 to these small bronze objects, fourteen of which he had discovered in the shop of a Chinese curio dealer in Pao-t'ou2 near the great northern loop of the Yellow River, the former home of the Christian Ongut tribe, Mr. Nixon, then Postal Commissioner stationed at Peking, began to make his collection, which by the time he left China in 1949 had grown to nearly 1,000 pieces, the largest collection of its kind in the world, and as far as we know, the only one of the collections then made which has remained intact, and therefore is at the present time unique. The collection includes some crosses given by Fr. Mostaert which shepherds had picked up in the sand3. From the beginning opinion among scholars was divided as to the original purpose of these bronze pendants, of which the majority were shaped like Greek crosses; but Pelliot among others came out strongly in favour of their Christian origin,4 expressing a view which now predominates. Especially interesting was the opinion of Fr. A. Mostaert, a Belgium missionary and well-known authority on the Mongols, stationed at Borobalgasoun on the\n\n£\n\n* Professor Drake is Professor of Chinese in the University of Hong Kong and Editor of the Journal of Oriental Studies.\n\n1 Discovered August 1929. Described in The Mission Field, Feb. 1930, and in The Chinese Recorder, Feb. and Nov. 1930,\n\n2 See letters to Mr. Nixon, now in the University of Hong Kong Museum.\n\n3 Paris, Revue des Arts Asiatiques, 1. VII, 1931, P. Pelliot: 'Sceaux-Amulettes de Bronze avec Croix et Colombes'.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204385, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 17, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "12\n\nF. S. DRAKE\n\nsouthern border of the Ordos region within the loop of the Yellow River, as Pao-t'ou was on its northern border. Fr. Mostaert, it appears, was already familiar with the Crosses and he gave some valuable information from his personal observations, as to the use to which they were put by the Mongols of his day:\n\nThe Mongols constantly dig them up from old graves and elsewhere; they know nothing about their history, but wear them on their girdles, especially the women. When they leave home to take their sheep to graze, they close their doors, and seal them with mud or clay, in the same way as other people use ordinary seals.4\n\nIn 1932 during his residence in Tsinan, Shantung, Mr. Nixon committed his collection to the late Dr. J. Mellon Menzies of Shang dynasty fame, then professor of Chinese Archaeology at Cheeloo University, for study and classification. The result was embodied in a monograph entitled Chinese Nestorian Bronze Crosses which was published with the help of a grant from the Harvard-Yenching Institute in December 1934 as a double number of the Cheeloo University Bulletin 齊大季刊,第三、五合期, 青銅十字專號。The volume consists of impressions in red (somewhat in the manner of Chinese rubbings, but not true rubbings) of each of the crosses and seals in the collection, to the number of 979, followed by tables giving the number, weight, measurements and description of each cross, and where possible the provenance of each, the whole being classified in certain clearly defined groups, together with two essays in Chinese: 'Christianity in China in the time of Marco Polo' by Dr. Menzies; 'The Swastika Cross Badges Unearthed in Sui Yüan Province, China' by Professor P. Y. Saeki; and a short Introduction in Chinese on the Nixon Collection by Dr. Menzies. This volume has long been out of print, and Cheeloo University itself has been disbanded, The Institute of Oriental Studies at the University of Hong Kong hopes, when funds are available, to publish a complete set of photographs and rubbings of the whole collection with Dr. Menzies' tables, classification and enumeration.\n\n4\n\nDr. Menzies classified the crosses, which measure from 11 to 31 ins. across, first according to shape into four main groups,\n\n1 Moule, Christians in China before the Year 1550, London, S.P.C.K., 1930, p. 92; Saeki, Nestorian Documents and Relics in China, Tokyo, 2nd ed., 1951, p. 423; Menzies, Chinese Nestorian Bronze Crosses, Cheeloo University Bulletin, 1934, pp. 92-3.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204900, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1965", "page_number": 8, "title": "RAS-1965", "content_text": "20th January \n\n9th March \n\n23rd March \n\n27th April \n\n9/10th May \n\n25th May \n\n22nd June \n\n2nd September \n\n27th October \n\nMr. J. L. Cranmer-Byng, M.C., M.A. \n\n\"The Macartney Embassy Through Chinese Eyes\". \n\nProfessor J. K. Fairbank \n\n\"The Western Response to China”, \n\nAnnual General Meeting \n\nProfessor F. S. Drake, O.B.E., B.A., B.D., \n\n\"The Jewish Colony at Kaifeng and its Relation to other Monotheistic Faiths in China”. \n\nSymposium on Social Organization of Villages in the New Territories, including visits to villages in the New Territories. \n\nMr. Michael Lau, B.A., PID.ED.(H.K.), M.A.(HARV.) \"The Fung Ping Shan Museum”. \n\nDr. Marjorie Topley, B.SC.(ECON.), PH.D. \"Some of China's Little Known Religious Sects, and Their Migration Overseas”. \n\nMr. Tom Harrisson, D.S.O., O.B.E., \n\n\"Living Cultures in the Niah Context of Prehistory\". \n\nPeter Scott, Esq., C.B.E., D.S.C. \n\n\"The Conservation of the World's Wild Life and Wilderness”. \n\n16th November Professor Chao Mei-pa, B.A. \n\n\"A Brief Sketch of Chinese Music\", with instrumental illustrations by Dr. C. K. Wong and folksongs by Barbara Fei, Winnie Wei and Lee Bing. \n\nOf particular interest was the enthusiasm and the spirit of inquiry that were exemplified in the Symposium held on 9th and 10th May on the Social Organization of Villages in the New Territories which was organized and conducted by Dr. Marjorie Topley and Mr. R. E. Lawry with the active participation of two anthropologists from the University of London and District Officers of the New Territories, whose work had brought them", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1965.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204902, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1965", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1965", "content_text": "4\n\nof the Editorial Board. It is true to say the Journal is a monument to his scholarship and editorial ability. In recognition of their eminent service to the Society, both Sir Robert Black and Mr. Cranmer-Byng were admitted as the first Honorary Members of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. In the summer, Professor F. S. Drake of the University left the Colony on retirement. He had been a great inspiration to the Society and his inaugural address in April 1960 on \"The Study of Asia: A Heritage and a Task\" as well as his lecture on the Nestorian Crosses and his farewell address on the \"Jewish Colony at Kaifeng\", were memorable events. Before he left, Professor Drake was the guest at a dinner in his honour given by the Council. At the end of the year, we also had regretfully to bid farewell to Mr. Mallory-Browne, who had served on the Council and who had, through The Asia Foundation, given generous support to the Symposium in May, and had obtained another grant of HK$2,850 from the Foundation for the purchase of books for the library. We wish to record our appreciation and thanks both to him and The Asia Foundation for their generous support.\n\nWe have to thank other donors also for gifts of books for the library. Dr. L. A. Khan has presented seven books, mainly on the subject of the Qur'an and the Philosophy of Islam. Mr. F. A. Nixon, presented four rare volumes, bound in sheepskin, entitled The Museum of Antiquities (Astasiatika Samlingarna), being four volumes on East Asia antiquities, published in Stockholm, and dedicated to H.R.H. Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. Mr. Nixon has also presented to the Society a rare manuscript in Chinese characters, a fragment of one of the sacred books of Mahayana Buddhism, which had been deposited in the rock temples of the Thousand Buddhas at Tun-huang. The manuscript has been examined by the Department of Oriental Printed Books & MSS. of the British Museum and pronounced a genuine document from the Tung-huang Monastic Library of the eighth or ninth century, but certainly not later. This is a very important acquisition for which we are deeply indebted to Mr. Nixon. The gift raises the question of the custody of such a document and of our collection of books, which is now increasing and which should be made available to members. We have, however, no library or reading room of our own and have no funds to rent one. We should like to make an appeal for a", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1965.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205002, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1965", "page_number": 110, "title": "RAS-1965", "content_text": "101\n\nBOOK REVIEWS\n\nCHINESE HISTORY: INDEX TO LEARNED ARTICLES 1902 - 1962. Compiled in the Fung Ping Shan Library, University of Hong Kong, by Ping-kuen Yu. XXXI 573 pp. Hong Kong: East Asia Institute, 1963. Paper, HK$70. Distributed by Universal Book Company, Hong Kong.\n\n―\n\nHong Kong, though boasting archeological remains of Chinese culture going back more than 2,000 years, has only recently come of age in the field of Chinese studies. This has resulted from the pressures of the extraordinary events of the past twenty years. No better corroboration of these two statements could be found than that provided by the appearance of this volume, and the circumstances surrounding its production. Mr. P. K. Yu, its compiler, was trained in Chinese studies first at New Asia College, now a component of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. New Asia College, like the other components of the Chinese University, was founded by intellectuals who had left the Mainland but who wanted to continue the scholarly traditions of the Mainland in Hong Kong. Professor Emeritus Frederick S. Drake, to whom this volume is dedicated and who contributes a graceful preface to it, headed the Department of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong until his retirement in 1964; he brought to that post a vast fund of Chinese learning garnered during his many years in China, as well as the high standards of modern scholarship. It was Professor Drake who called Mr. Yu to Hong Kong University, and who encouraged the present project with the double aim of making Hong Kong's resources for Chinese studies more accessible to scholars, and of training advanced students in methods of scholarly research. Mr. Yu himself represents one Hong Kong individual who has made one kind of response to the changing life of the Colony since World War II, that of becoming a first-rate sinologist and historian, first as a student at New Asia, then as a teacher and director of research at the University.\n\nNone of these things would or could have happened in Hong Kong before World War II. They are evidence that not only have the pressures of the post-war years created strains and problems for Hong Kong, they also have brought about growth", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1965.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205004, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1965", "page_number": 112, "title": "RAS-1965", "content_text": "BOOK REVIEWS\n\n103\n\ncare with which the work of compilation was performed, not failure to note more errata.\n\nMr. Yu approached his work with very high standards. Instead of merely cannibalizing existing indices, as has often been done, he insisted that all entries be compiled directly from examination of the publications in question; in addition to judging each item afresh it was also possible to note complete data on page numbers and length, the seldom-offered facts on the bulk of an article here being regarded as one of the facts most useful to the scholar using an index. Moreover, the names of the 355 periodicals drawn upon in making the index are given in two lists, one in Chinese giving full information on history and editorship of the publication in question, and another briefer one in English and romanization. Professor Drake's preface reports that Mr. Yu will also write a history of Chinese scholarly periodicals, drawing on the data gathered in the course of this work of compilation. Moreover, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, which generously supported both research and publication, has been so impressed by the value of Mr. Yu's work that they have asked him to enlarge and supplement the present index by adding further periodicals not yet available in Hong Kong, and by continuing to produce biennial additions to keep this kind of indexing up to date with current publication. Hong Kong, its material and its human resources, are thus placed in the service of Chinese studies everywhere. We must be grateful, principally to Mr. Yu, but also to all those who have contributed to this achievement.\n\nPrinceton University\n\nFrederick W. MOTE\n\nLAND USE AND MINERAL DEPOSITS IN HONG KONG, SOUTHERN CHINA AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA. Edited by S. G. DAVIS. Proceedings of a meeting held in September 1961 as part of the Golden Jubilee Congress of the University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press 1964. 260 pages. HK$60.\n\nThe golden jubilee of a university is, under most circumstances, an event to be proud of. The prestige of a reputable university increases of course with the advance of age. On the occasion of its golden jubilee in September 1961, the University of Hong Kong initiated six symposia. One of these was on land use", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1965.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205929, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1970", "page_number": 9, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "# PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1969\n\nThis is the tenth statutory Annual General Meeting of the Society but as the First Annual Meeting was held in April 1961 more than a year after its revival in December 1959 the Society is well on its eleventh year of its renewed existence. This is therefore an important milestone in its history. It had been contemplated that it would be fitting to hold a Society dinner to mark the occasion but it has been decided to postpone this celebration until the autumn. Nevertheless I feel happy to present to you to-day the report which shows that the Society is flourishing, is very active and is in a sound financial position. It had, at the end of 1969, 462 members including 69 life members more than 25 over last year in spite of the loss of 28.\n\nThe membership of the Society has changed considerably in ten years. In the Council, for instance, there are only two of the original members left - Dr. Marjorie Topley and myself. Together with Mr. (now Professor) Cranmer-Byng we planned in 1959 to revive the Society after an interval of a century. A meeting of thirty interested members was convened at the British Council Centre on 28th December, 1959. The Meeting was a success; the Society was duly constituted, the Rules were approved and an opening meeting was held at the Hong Kong Club when Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark gave a talk illustrated with a colour film on \"The Social and Economic Organisation of Tibet\". A formal inaugural meeting was held on 7th April, 1960 when Professor F. S. Drake of the University of Hong Kong delivered an address on \"The Study of Asia: a Heritage and a Task\". It was a memorable address which gave the stamp of learning and authority and set an objective ideal for our efforts.\n\nI may perhaps be forgiven on this tenth anniversary to indulge in a little of the history of the Society for the information of members who have joined since 1959. We have a tradition, and in the words of Professor Drake \"a heritage and a task”.\n\nThe Royal Asiatic Society is not a new body. Its roots go back to the middle of the 19th Century, especially in India, when societies were formed for the study of the East under the impetus of a greater British interest which was a corollary of expanding", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206202, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1971", "page_number": 19, "title": "RAS-1971", "content_text": "THE LIBRARY OF THE HONG KONG BRANCH ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY\n\nREPORT FOR THE YEAR 1970-1971\n\nGrowth of the Library slowed down again in the year under report, after the impressive figures of the previous year. Nevertheless, donations continued to be the main source of accessions, totalling 20 out of 24 volumes. This brings the total stock to 420 volumes, excluding bound periodicals, to which further reference is made later in this report. Donors included the following, to whom we express our warm appreciation:\n\nThe Hon. H. J. C. Browne - Taikoo, by C. Drage, 1970\n\nKorea Branch, Royal Asiatic Society - three of their own publications\n\nFour other books were donated anonymously, seven were received through the Hon. Editor, having been sent to the Journal for review, and a further five were in the series Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, which are received in exchange for our Journal. These are all listed at the end of this report.\n\nThe Hon. Librarian was absent on long leave during the latter half of 1970, and in his absence Professor Ma Meng kindly undertook to act in this capacity. Four books were purchased for the Library by the Hon. Librarian whilst he was in England.\n\nA further batch of 24 volumes of periodicals has been bound and added to the Library. In the report for 1968-69, a list of bound periodicals located in the British Council Library, Gloucester Building, was given. In order to make room for the growing collection of more interesting books, the majority of the periodicals which were rarely consulted have been moved back to the University of Hong Kong Library, where other less used materials are kept. The total number of bound volumes is now 125 (bound in 99).\n\nMost of the periodicals are received in exchange for our own Journal. No new exchanges have been started during the year, though possibilities for this are investigated from time to time. As a result of the appeal made to members in February 1970 for", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1971.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206432, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1971", "page_number": 249, "title": "RAS-1971", "content_text": "BOOK REVIEWS\n\n223\n\nJohn Pelzel compares Japanese and Chinese Kinship. As Professor Freedman sums up in his introduction to the volume, 'it seems that the perduring units of kinship structure are in Japan the ie and in China the lineage, the “lineage” in Japan and the chia in China are passing phenomena.'\n\nThis volume of essays does not form a textbook on Chinese kinship and family; rather it summarises contemporary thinking on and research about family and kinship in China and discloses, I feel, some likely future developments. More attention needs to be given to the study of matrilateral relationships, a topic hardly explored in any major research project or study. There is also a need to explore relationships that do not depend on kinship. Chinese, after all, do become members of guilds and trade unions and other associations; and some of the non-kin relationships they enter into are as meaningful and sociologically significant as those connected with family and kinship; and, after reading Professor Cohen's essay, it seems clear that somebody should take a very close look at the Chinese firm or business, at the Chinese business-man in his economic habitat. Lastly, there is a need for a more comparative approach. Professor Freedman states, 'China, we are discovering more and more, can be profitably studied within the context of the group of societies with which it shares a classical tradition.' He refers to Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Most scholars would concur: sinologues tend to be obsessively preoccupied with China.\n\nAlthough there are some ideas in this volume which would be obscure for the non-sinologue or non-anthropologist, there is precious little obscurity of expression. This is an important book, elegantly written, and should interest historians, students of comparative institutions, and the educated common reader.\n\nHong Kong, June 1971.\n\nHENRY JAMES LETHBRIDGE\n\nTAIKOO: Charles Drage, London, Constable, 1970, pp. 298, appendices, illus, £2.25.\n\nThis book is a tapestry woven around the office and private lives of the Eastern Staff of Butterfield & Swire. It is set against", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1971.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206800, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1973", "page_number": 77, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "PERSIANS, ARABS IN T'ANG CHINA\n\n71\n\n23 Ch'en Yu-ching, p. 19; Wang Gungwu1, 'The Nanhai Trade', Journal of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 31, part 2, chapter 7, \"The Middlemen and the Spices 618-960 (II), (Kuala Lumpur, 1958).\n\n24 CTS, chüan 89; HTS, chüan 116.\n\n25 TCTC, chüan 203; Wang Gungwu, pp. 75-76. The passage from TCTC follows Wang Gungwu's translation.\n\n26 CTS, chüan 89; HTS, chüan 116.\n\n27 Tung Hao and others, eds., Ch'üan-Tang wen♬ X (A.D. 1814 edition), chüan 291.\n\n28 Hsiang Ta, pp. 38-39.\n\n29 Ibid., Schafer, p. 21.\n\n30 Wang Ch'i±1 ed., Li T'ai-po wen-chi4★ø̇ (A.D. 1758 edited), chüan 3, 'Ch'ien yu tsun-chiu hsing'☀☀f The Chinese version is as follows:\n\n嬰獒龍門之綠桐，玉壺美酒清若空口\n\n催舷梯往與君飲，看朱成碧顏始缸口\n\n胡姬貌如花，當爐笑春風，笑春風，\n\n笑春風，舞羅衣，君今不醉將安歸。\n\nThe translation here follows Schafer's.\n\n31 Hsiang Ta, pp. 41-47.\n\n32 Yüan-shih chang-ch'ing chiZAŁA (1929 edition), chüan 24, p. 5, 'Fa Chu'. After Schafer's translation. Schafer, p. 28.\n\n33 Liu Mau-tsaiA†, 'Kulturelle Beziehungen zwischen den Ost Türken (Tu-Küe) und China', Central Asiatic Journal 3:3:199 (The Hague and Wiesbaden, 1957-58). The dictionary is 'T'u-chüeh yü'*A* See Schafer, p. 285, n. 175.\n\n34 Cf. S. W. Bushell, Chinese Art, Victoria and Albert Museum Handbook (London, 1906), chapter 12; Osvald Siren, Chinese Painting (London, 1956) I, 71; Arnold Silock, Introduction to Chinese Art and History (Oxford, 1948), p. 181; Arthur Waley, An Introduction to the Study of Chinese Painting (London, 1923), p. 108; Jitsuzo Kuwabara, 'Zui-To-jidai ni Shina ni raiju shita seikijin ni tsuite'隋唐時代に支那に来往した番域人に就いて Naito Hakase Kanreki shukuga shukuga Shinagaku ronsoAKŁET#***$*£ (Tokyo, 1926; *ˆ†±‡ƒ), pp. 643-644; Chuang Shen#, 'Sui-Tang shih-tai Yü-tien tsu-chih chi fu-tzu hua-chia'MAARTA##, Lishih yü-yen yen-chiu-so chi-k'anAt*7*ƒƒ4N (Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology), Extra Vol. 4, part I, pp. 403-454 (Academic Sinica, Taiwan, 1960).\n\n35 Schafer, p.\n\n36 Chuang Shen, pp. 408-416.\n\n37 Ibid., pp. 440-443.\n\n38 TCTC, chüan 203, p. 6415. For Ch'in Ming-ho and Li Hsün, I am indebted to Professor Lo Hsiang-lin's stimulating article 'Hsi-chu po-ssu chih Li Hsün chi ch'i Hai-yao pen-ts'ao'±Ùƒ±‡HZ‡❀$$‡ Symposium on Chinese Studies Commemorating the Golden Jubilee of the University of Hong Kong, 1911-1961. F. S. Drake, ed., (Hong Kong, 1964) II, 217-240.\n\n39 For Ch'ung ICTH, chüan 95 see Lo Hsiang-lin's article on Li Hsün; also", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206801, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1973", "page_number": 78, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "72\n\nCHIU LING-YEONG\n\n40 See Liu Ts'un-yan #, \"The Taoists' Knowledge of Tuberculosis in the XIIth Century', a paper presented to the twenty-eighth International Congress of Orientalists, Canberra, January, 1971.\n\n41 Li Hsin's name had been mentioned by B. Laufer, P. Pelliot, G. Ferrand and many other sinologists in the beginning of this century. Cf. O. W. Wolters, Early Indonesian Commerce, a Study of the Origin of Srivijaya (New York, 1966), chapters 9 and 10, also pp. 307-307, n. 13.\n\n42 P. Huard and M. Wong, 'Evolution de la matière medicale chinoise\", Janus 47: (Leiden, 1958); and also their work La mèdecine chinoise au cours des siècles (Paris, 1959).\n\n43 F. S. Drake, pp. 222-223.\n\n44 Ibid.\n\n45 I am indebted again to Professor Lo Hsiang-lin's article 'T'ang-shih yu Chung-Jih wen-hua chiao-liu chih kuan-hsi' ✯✯ ZREALMA T'ang-tai wen-hua shih, pp. 194-220.\n\n46 Sun Kuang-hsien, Pei-meng so-yen. It records during the reign of Hsuan-tsung ✯ (A.D. 847-860) and I-tsung ✯✯ (A.D. 860-873) that secretaries in the Inner Court were all foreigners (#, *£*^); HTS, chuan 217, part II.\n\n47 Ch'üan-Tang wen, chuan 767; Ch'ien I &, Nan-pu hsin-shu **** (Hsüleh-ching t'ao-vüan ## edition) records: A › Ü*** › ÄR 三二人,姓氏稀僻者,謂之色目人,亦謂曰牌花口\n\n4 Sung Ming chiu it fed, Tang huiyao (Peking, 1959), chüan 10, p. 64, Tai-ho third year, the emperor decreed that:\n\n南海蕃舶,本以慕化而來,囿在榷以恩仁,使其感孚,如開癘疫,嗟怨之聲達於殊俗;況朕方寶勤儉,豐愛退遐?深慮遐邇未安,榷稅猶重,思有矜恤,以示綏撫。其嶺南、福建及揚州蕃客,宜委節度觀察使,常加存問,除舶稅、市、進奉外,任其來往通流,自行交易,不得重加榷稅。", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207245, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1975", "page_number": 13, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "5 films have been shown many times. This time—in June—we had a new film on the boat people of Hong Kong \"Dragons of the Sea\" made with Miss Barbara Ward, an anthropologist and also an old friend of our Society. We were invited together with many of the boat people and others in Hong Kong who had helped make the film a success. In July one of Mr. Brian Brake's films \"Borobadur, Cosmic Mountain” was reshown. Borobadur is one of the world's greatest Buddhist monuments, situated in central Java. Mr. Brake is well-known for his documentary art films. In September another of his films \"Ramayana” a major epic of the Far East was shown. Ramayana has culturally influenced Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and other parts of the East and has been represented many times in paintings, sculptures, dances and theatrical performances. In December films on Taiwan were shown in connexion with our excursion to Taiwan over the Christmas holidays led by Miss Werle. The Taiwan visit was a great success I understand (I never seem to be able to go on overseas trips myself owing to family commitments during the holiday seasons). Members visited Hualin, Taipei, the National Palace Museum and the Peking Opera School; various temples; and Tainan where a shadow puppet performance was seen. It was with great reluctance that we had to cancel our proposed visit to Borneo over the Easter holidays, owing to insufficient numbers. We realise, of course, that for many people this is not a “free” time and the possible lack of response was due to this fact.\n\nPUBLICATIONS\n\nSeveral of our talks for 1974 will be published in our coming 1974 journal, which will also include, apart from several original articles, two valuable reprints, one on the Tang Family of Kam Tin by the late Sung Hok-pang, and another on place names of Hong Kong and the New Territories by Mr. K. M. A. Barnett. Most of the items have already been passed to the printer and it is hoped the Journal will be ready for distribution by June this year. Also in press now, are the papers relating to the two symposia we held: Hong Kong, Chinese tradition and the Development of a Town; and The Flora of Hong Kong. Professor Lofts' symposium on the Fauna of Hong Kong is also in preparation.\n\nARTS CENTRE\n\nAs old members will recall, the Society is a constituent member of the Hong Kong Arts Centre. For new members our object is", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209357, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 14, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "ADDRESS BY DR. JAMES HAYES, AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, 17TH FEBRUARY 1983\n\nDr. Topley, ladies and gentlemen,\n\nAccording to p. 4 of Vol. 1 (1961) of the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society:\n\n\"THE HONG KONG BRANCH was resuscitated as the outcome of a meeting attended by some thirty interested persons, held at the British Council Centre on December 28, 1959. The meeting adopted a constitution approved by the parent Society in London, and formed an interim Council to hold office until a General Meeting should be held. The following were elected to the Council:- President: Dr. J. R. Jones; Vice-Presidents: the Hon. Sir Tsun-nin Chau and Dr. L. T. Ride; Hon. Secretary: Mr. J. D. Duncanson; Hon. Treasurer: Mr. T. J. Lindsay; Hon. Editor of the Journal: Mr. J. L. Cranmer-Byng; other Councillors: Dr. Marjorie Topley and Messrs. James Liu, Holmes Welch, and G. B. Endacott.\n\nThe Inaugural Meeting of the revived Branch was held on April 7, 1960, in the Loke Yew Hall of Hong Kong University. It was to have been presided over by H. E. the Governor, Sir Robert Black, K.C.M.G., O.B.E., had illness not prevented it. The Inaugural Address was delivered by Professor F. S. Drake, Professor of Chinese at Hong Kong University, on \"The Study of Asia: a Heritage and a Task\".\n\nOn January 23, 1961, Sir Robert Black presided over a meeting of the Branch in his capacity as Patron, and thus restored a tradition after a lapse of a hundred years.'\n\n**\n\nAs incoming President, it is my honour on this occasion, twenty-three years later, to make a presentation to Dr. Topley on your behalf, in recognition of her work as President of the Society from 1972 onwards. But first I wish to speak about her own contribution to the formation of our Society and its work over nearly a quarter of a century.\n\nxiv", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210630, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1985", "page_number": 237, "title": "RAS-1985", "content_text": "218\n\nDear Mr. Gardner,\n\nThe Council of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was asked, earlier this year, by a well-known Hong Kong resident, Mr. F. A. Nixon O.B.E., to assist him to establish the authenticity of two manuscript fragments in his possession which may have come originally from Tunhuang.\n\nMr. Nixon's account of how he obtained these two fragments is as follows:-\n\nIn the early 1930's Mr. Nixon was Postal Commissioner at Peking, and had under him a Chinese clerk, a Mr. S. T. Han, whom he was helping to learn English. In return Han used to look out for any objects of interest which he could acquire for Mr. Nixon. At this time Mr. Nixon was making a collection of Nestorian Crosses which are now in the Museum of Chinese Art at the University of Hong Kong. (See Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 2 1962, article by Professor F. S. Drake).\n\nIn 1932 S. T. Han had been sent to Sian on duty and had acquired two manuscript fragments as explained in the following letter which he wrote to Mr. Nixon on his return to Tientsin. Mr. Nixon was Postal Commissioner in Tsinan, Shantung, from 1932 December to 1934 December.\n\nCopy\n\nTientsin, 14th April, 1933\n\nDear Mr. Nixon,\n\nI was in receipt of your letter. The book and the magazine are being returned herewith with thanks.\n\nAll the statements in the book are based upon facts and with proofs, so we have not the least doubt in accepting them.\n\nWith reference to the Tun-Hwang \"Gloria in Excelsis Deo\" in page 52, I am very glad to inform you that I have two rolls of\n\n...\n\nI\n\ni", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1985.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210631, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1985", "page_number": 238, "title": "RAS-1985", "content_text": "219\n\nmanuscripts of the same period - Tang Dynasty, though not on Christianity. One roll, being part of a translation of a “Bible” of Buddhism by the famous Chinese monk Hsuan Tsang, was written in Chinese; the other in Indian, Tibetan or Sanskrit language on unknown matters. They were found in the same stone room in Tun-Hwang as the \"Gloria in Excelsis Deo\". I got them last year in Sian. In view of the fact that all manuscripts in Tun-Hwang have gone abroad, I know these two rolls of written language, though incomplete, are valuable.\n\nHave you collections of such objects? please let me know and I will send you what I have.\n\nYours faithfully,\n\nS. T. HAN\n\nIn 1933 Mr. Nixon showed the two fragments to the well-known scholar Wang Hsien-tang who was then Head of the Shantung Provincial Library. As a result Mr. Wang wrote to Mr. Nixon the following letter:\n\nCopy\n\nTo: Mr. F. A. Nixon\n\nPostal Commissioner, Tsinan, Shantung.\n\n\"This is a Scripture truly written by men of the Tang Dynasty; with regard to the Tibetan or Brahma Scriptures, as no study of them has been made by me, I am not in a position to give evidence.\"\n\nWang Hsien-tang,\n\nChief of the Shantung Provincial Library, Tsinan, 1933.\n\nAlso in 1933 Mr. Nixon showed the fragments to Professor F. S. Drake who was then on the staff of Cheeloo University, Tsinan, Shantung, and Professor Drake identified the text in Chinese characters.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1985.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210632, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1985", "page_number": 239, "title": "RAS-1985", "content_text": "220\n\nacter as part of the Maha-pradjina-paramita-sutra. Subsequently, on Professor Drake's advice, Mr. Nixon had his two fragments mounted on scrolls in order to protect them.\n\nIn April 1963 the Council of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society asked Mr. Ma Meng, Principal of the Language School in the Institute of Oriental Studies at the University of Hong Kong, Mr. H. D. Talbot, Lecturer in the Department of Geography of this University and myself to advise Mr. Nixon on the best way to ensure the safety of his two fragments for the future. We asked the advice of Professor F. S. Drake, Professor of Chinese in this University, and together with him, and a member of his staff, Mr. Lo Hsiang-lin, we examined the two fragments. These are:\n\na) One manuscript approx. 17¾\" × 9\" written in Chinese characters. This is a fragment of the Maha-pradjina-paramita-sutra. According to Mr. Lo Hsiang-lin, who has had some experience in these matters, the calligraphy, colour of ink, texture of paper etc. of this MS. give it the look of a genuine T'ang dynasty manuscripts.\n\nb) This consists of one section of 9″ × 11½\" followed by two sections of 18½″ × 11½″ followed by one section of 9¾\" × 11½\". The writing is Tibetan. It is on the same quality of paper as the fragment in Chinese.\n\nMr. Nixon, although still quite active, is now in his eighty-sixth year, and he is anxious that these fragments should be examined by experts and that, if they are found to be genuine, arrangements should eventually be made for their permanent safekeeping where they can be consulted by scholars. We have advised Mr. Nixon that these conditions cannot be fulfilled in Hong Kong and that the British Museum is the right and proper place to give an opinion on his fragments and to advise on their eventual safekeeping. We have promised Mr. Nixon that we will write to you on his behalf.\n\nMay we therefore ask if you would be willing to receive these two fragments for examination and let Mr. Nixon have your opinion?", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1985.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210960, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1987", "page_number": 22, "title": "RAS-1987", "content_text": "vertise its existence and value for students and researchers, the Urban Council mounted an exhibition of important books from the collection at the Library between 18 November and 1 December. Two talks were given during the exhibition; one in Cantonese on the RAS Library by our Hon. Librarian, Mr. Peter Yeung and one by myself, in English, on the RAS in Hong Kong and Shanghai 1845-1987.\n\nConcluding Remarks\n\nI have left one major concern to the end. Our greatly increased membership is a source of gratification; for its own sake and because it reflects much effort. However, this great increase does bring one factor into sharp focus. Whereas at this time last year one-fifth of the Society's membership was Chinese, the new members are almost all European, considerably reducing that percentage thereby. This is not the way we ought to be going. The future of the Society requires that, whilst maintaining the English-speaking basis for our literary work, we should move towards recruiting more Chinese and other local members from the professional, managerial and academic sectors, having more Chinese councillors and office bearers, and using Chinese language alongside English as far as may be practicable in our programme activities. We have a balance on Council at present, and in my view this should be maintained and extended. The study of Asia is our heritage and task, as Professor Drake said in his inaugural lecture to our Society in 1960. To continue to play this role in Hong Kong after 1997 the Hong Kong Branch must ensure that it is firmly rooted in Hong Kong society. The Council endorsed this view at its last meeting, when considering our review, and requested me to form a working group to look carefully into this important matter.\n\nFinally, I wish to thank my colleagues on the Council, and those members of the Society who have helped during the past year, for their much appreciated support and encouragement.\n\n11 March 1988\n\nJames Hayes\n\nPresident\n\nxii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212646, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1991", "page_number": 200, "title": "RAS-1991", "content_text": "181\n\nUNIVERSITY ARCHAEOLOGY TEAM, 1955-1967 A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF HONG KONG EARLY POST-WAR ARCHAEOLOGICAL ACTIVITY\n\nSOLOMON BARD\n\nThe University Archaeology Team was the direct predecessor of the present Hong Kong Archaeological Society. As possibly the only remaining member of the Team who is still in touch with the Society, the Hong Kong Museum of History, and the Antiquities & Monuments Office, I believe it may be useful for me to write down this short account of the Team.\n\nAround September 1955, five members of the University of Hong Kong staff proposed to Professor Drake the formation of an Archaeology Team, to be placed under the auspices of the Hong Kong Institute of Oriental Studies.\n\nThe five members were Professor S. G. Davis ) Dr. T. Tregear\n\nMr. L. Berry\n\nMiss M. Tregear\n\nDr. S. M. Bard ) of the Dept. of Geography & Geology\n\nCurator, Fung Ping Shan Museum Director, University Health Service\n\nProfessor F. Drake was the Head of the Dept. of Chinese and of the Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Hong Kong\n\nThe six persons mentioned above met in March 1956, when the formation of the Team was formally agreed upon. The six founding members formed an informal committee, and Mr Michael Lau (now Dr. and present Curator of the Fung Ping Shan Museum) joined the committee.\n\nIt was agreed that the recruitment of further members of the Team should be conducted by selecting and inviting persons who were likely to be useful members, interested in archaeological work and who could contribute substantially to the progress of the Team. It was also agreed that the size of the Team should be kept at around 25-30 members.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1991.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212647, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1991", "page_number": 201, "title": "RAS-1991", "content_text": "182\n\nIt was a group loosely attached to the University of Hong Kong and NOT a public society. By 1957, this small Team had visited and examined several previously-known sites. Several new members were enrolled, among them Robin and Elspeth Maneely, John Llewellyn, Gerald Moore, and John Walden. By the end of 1957, nine more members were enrolled, among them Dr. Chiu Tze-nang, Mr. (now Dr.) J. Hayes and Dr. Albert So. Total membership now stood at 19.\n\nMore sites were visited, such as Potoi Island, High Island, Picnic Bay (Lamma island) and Tai Long (Lantao Island). In 1958, four more members joined the Team, including Mr. B. Williams.\n\nIn 1958, the administrative responsibility for the Team had passed from the Institute of Oriental Studies to the Department of Geography and Geology (at the request of Professor Drake), and with this change, Professor Davis became the Head of the Team and its committee.\n\nThroughout 1958, the Team was very active. Several sites on Lamma Island were visited as well as Cheung Chau, Tai Long, Shek Pik, Castle Peak, and Soko Islands. An excavation at Man Kok Tsui was undertaken.\n\nIn 1964, Mr James Watt joined the team and became the Secretary of the committee.\n\nAfter 1964, the Team activity appeared to decline. Some members became inactive, others left Hong Kong. By the end of 1966, it became apparent that the Team could not continue its work in the old way.\n\nFour active members of the Team James Watt, Bernard William, James Hayes, and Solomon Bard met in January 1967 and agreed that a public society should be formed from the Team, to be called the Hong Kong Archaeological Society, and that the assets of the Team should pass on to the new Society. The first meeting of the new Society was held in May 1967.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1991.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212700, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1992", "page_number": 9, "title": "RAS-1992", "content_text": "ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY\n\nHONG KONG BRANCH\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1992/93\n\nIn the Society's journal Volume I (1960-61) you will find that the then president wrote these words 'It is with great pleasure that I submit a report of the activities of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for the first year of its existence after its revival in December 1959.' That was just over thirty-three years ago, at the time of the resuscitation of the Society, as a result of the enthusiasm of a small band of interested members led by our late president, Dr. J.R. Jones. The first meeting took place on 28 December, 1959, when the present constitution was adopted and the inaugural meeting was held on 7 April, 1960 in the Loke Yew Hall of the University of Hong Kong. It was to be presided over by the then governor, Sir Robert Black, had illness not prevented it. The inaugural address was delivered by Professor F. S. Drake, Professor of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong and was entitled 'The study of Asia: a heritage and a task.'\n\nYou will notice that the word 'resuscitated' is used because the original Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was founded in 1847 (the parent company was founded in 1823), but primarily due to personal animosities prevalent in Hong Kong in the early days it collapsed in 1859. We, to-day, having survived for 33 years are clearly more enlightened and harmonious.\n\nSome of you here this evening will be fully aware of these facts; for those who are not you will find them all and much more in that first journal. My reason for drawing your attention to them, besides encouraging you to buy this back journal and all the other journals to improve our finances if nothing else, is to focus your attention on the historical mission of the Society, and to bring out that we have now been in existence for a very long time in the context of the history of Hong Kong. And in to-day's context, where the changes in Hong Kong are so apparent, where there is a charged political atmosphere, and where there is a feeling of uncertainty for the future, a Society such as ours, small as it is, can continue to play an enlightening and a stable role for Hong Kong. We are not of course a political society, nor would we ever wish to be one, but clearly we need to remind ourselves that academic freedom must be seen to be preserved, and not just paid lip service to.\n\nVil", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213326, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1994", "page_number": 148, "title": "RAS-1994", "content_text": "130\n\n4\n\nIn postwar Hong Kong, in the winter of 1959-60, a small group of dedicated persons set themselves the task of reestablishing a Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society here. Their initiative met with public support, and the new Branch got off to a good start. Though not a founder member, my own association with it goes back thirty-five years, when I joined in the first year of its existence. I have been an office-bearer for all but the first six years; and during the long period of my government service in Hong Kong and continuing into my retirement, my work with and for the Society has been among the most meaningful and satisfying of all my various activities.\n\nThe task which our founders set themselves was to further the good work done by our predecessors. The keynote address was provided by Professor F.S. Drake in a talk entitled \"The Study of Asia: a Heritage and a Task\". We had, he reminded us, received something precious from them and must, in our turn, add to the stock of hard-earned knowledge, handing it down to the next generation. I believe we have done our best to carry out his injunctions. An annual Journal has been published from the outset, with over thirty issues to date, together with a dozen or so \"Occasional Publications\". Though far from being devoted exclusively to Hong Kong, they represent a major contribution to its history, and contain more information on the territory's past than any of their contemporary periodicals, here or overseas. Through another regular activity - our Visits Programme - the Branch has helped members and their friends to broaden their local knowledge and understanding of the place and its people. In these several ways, we have contributed to the stability of Hong Kong over the years and have helped to nurture the growing sense of identity that has characterized its recent development.\n\nHowever, we have to admit that, unlike our Shanghai counterparts, we shall not leave a magnificent premises for our successors. The Hong Kong Branch's modest membership and limited resources have not permitted this. Land and housing have always been very expensive for societies to acquire without government assistance or substantial private or corporate donations, and these have not been forthcoming.\n\nThe RAS Library Collection\n\n7\n\nFrom the outset, following the example set by our two predecessors, it", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1994.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214311, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1998", "page_number": 169, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "133\n\nSeveral questions remained unanswered. We have no idea what happened to Mary, his first wife who is not referred to anywhere after 1911. R R Sowerby recorded their marriage and added that she bore him a son.... \"there is one son of the marriage, now [1956] living in Australia.'\n\nAnother aspect of Sowerby's life about which we know nothing is the financial side. His father is unlikely to have left him much if anything. He is unlikely to have earned much teaching in Tientsin or working for the wealthy American. His printing press would not have been cheap and his and his wife's collecting hobby again reflects an adequate income. He had several business directorships, was the manager of China Industries and, of course, had an income from the Journal. During his earlier years he did, of course, receive financial support from Mr Clark during expeditions. There is no doubt that there was money; perhaps brought into his life by his second wife? The 1938 and 1939 China Hong Kong Lists record the Sowerbys as living in the area beyond Bubblingwell, and near the American Country Club, at 34 Lucerne Road, a very upmarket address. Of tangential interest only, their neighbours at No. 33 were Captain and Mrs J V Davidson-Houston, the British Assistant Military Attaché, whose autobiography of the era was quite gripping.\n\nSowerby's works include The Naturalist in Manchuria, A Sportsman's Miscellany, Sport and Science on the Sino-Mongolian Frontier, A Naturalist's Notebook in China and, in joint authorship with Robert Clark, Through Shenkan.\n\nMy sources have included The Passing of the Manchus, Through Shen-Kan and also Sowerby of China, a privately produced short booklet published in Kendal in 1956 by R R Sowerby.\n\nPost Script\n\nSince submitting this article to the Editor of the Journal, I have been fortunate to come across the 'Obituary of Arthur Sowerby' written in 1954 by Professor Frank Drake of the University of Hong Kong who had the great advantage of having personally known Sowerby.' It has thrown a little more light on the life and times of our subject and I", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214313, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1998", "page_number": 171, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "135\n\nProfessor Drake summed up the probable chief monument to Sowerby's life in Shanghai as the China Journal. He added that it was not a sinological journal but a storehouse of information on all manner of subjects, the range and variety of which reflect the editor's [Sowerby's] mind. To a large extent it is a record of a world that is past and one of its chief functions was to educate the foreign community in the China of those days in appreciation of varied aspects of Chinese civilisation and life.\n\nWith his increasing knowledge in Chinese Art Sowerby gradually made a small but choice collection of Chinese pottery and porcelain, being attracted chiefly by the animals of the T'ang and Six Dynasties periods. These, with his fine collection of books on Chinese Art and his natural history specimens he donated to the Heude Museum, Shanghai before he left China in 1946.\n\nHis last illness was the now all but forgotten debilitating sprue which left him an apparently broken man, yet whilst in the Japanese concentration camp he maintained his interests and discovered a new species of some small creature.\n\nIn his final year, in Washington DC he began composing an ambitious history of the old Saxon family from which he was sprung - The Sowerby Saga - which included in the third and later parts his own autobiography. [Note: this does not appear to have been published and nothing more is known about the work].\n\nBefore the centenary of his and his family's fortunate furlough in 1900 passes I wanted to pay a debt of pleasure to the author and publisher, Arthur Sowerby, on behalf of all those who gained some insight into a China now long departed.\n\nPost Post Script\n\n[Editor's Note: Keith must have sent me at least six revised versions of this article, each time declaring that \"this is definitely the last one.\" Then things went quiet and I edited the \"absolute final version.\" Then this arrived with the usual \"final\" exhortations. I include it to confirm to readers that here at HKBRAS we truly go the extra mile!]", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215161, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2000", "page_number": 257, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "217\n\nA Brief History of Technical Education in Hong Kong\n\nnotes. 'If they write things down they remember them', I was told. Even Professor F S Drake, an Englishman heading the Chinese Department at Hong Kong University who lectured in the medium of Mandarin, sang the praises to me of rote learning in a Chinese environment.\n\nOn a visit to a building site in January 1955 in So Kon Po, to which some of our students were attached for on-the-job training, I found that craftsmen were being paid $5.00 a day and women labourers $1.50. Some of the latter were straightening nails which had been knocked out of dismantled formwork (used for the pouring of concrete) so that the nails could be re-used. This practice stopped a few years later when it became cheaper to buy new nails. While talking of money, our full-time students could expect, on average, a salary of $300.00 a month in the mid 1950s after a three-year, full-time, post-secondary course, when they took up their first jobs.\n\nThere was also a clause written into the Government Public Works Department standard specification saying that if any of our building graduates could not find employment at the end of their course, main contractors were forced to take on two trainees on each major site. Their salary was $150.00 a month.\n\nStill on the subject of money: one evening student used to walk home from the College in Wood Road to Sau Kei Wan, after class, in order to save his 10 cents second-class tram fare. In those days second-class was on the lower deck.\n\nContinuing with another subject: with Hong Kong's population increasing post-World War Two at about one million per decade (in the mid 1950s it stood at around two-and-a-half million), coupled with rising standards of prosperity, impetus was given to the further development of technical education. As early as 1953, the Technical Education Investigating Committee (which", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 } ]